


Two Birds, One Crystal

by Crowsister



Series: Rough Draft Babbling of Daughters & Decisions [7]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, KOTET Spoilers, Spoilers, campy hiking adventures, mentions of past relationships - Freeform, probably inaccurate lightsaber information
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 17:59:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8855401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowsister/pseuds/Crowsister
Summary: Rough draft for a later scene in a later part of Daughters & Decisions. Kaiadri has two problems she needs solving, fast. Why not throw them together, see what happens? Maybe they'll fix each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It is 12:12 AM. I will edit this in the afternoon when I awaken from slumber, so if there's any super bleeding mistakes in spelling or anything, I will fix them then.
> 
> UPDATE: I am now done with finals and am now sweeping through for errors. Changed some stuff around because I didn't want to rush the babies and because I like writing Arcann's Endless Denial Engine.

Kaiadri Ardonel broke the ice, the two of them sitting in the Galactic Alliance planning room, "Those resources you brought in with your loyalists have been helpful."

Arcann snorted. "Not one for silences, are you, Commander?"

"I'm not one for long, extended, awkward silence," Kaiadri replied, shrugging. "Besides. I'm not gonna sit here and glare at ya. I'll leave that to Koth. We're allies now and I like bein' buddy-buddy. And just stick with Kai or Kaiadri or even Ardonel. I'm more than a title, y'know."

They sat in silence a little longer.

Arcann broke it. "I tried to kill you and have you killed on numerous occasions."

Kaiadri snorted. "My allies having a history of attempting to harm me isn't new. Kaliyo likes setting bombs in my room for me to defuse," she listed, "Gault likes faking my death and taking the money out on false life insurance claims every time I'm out on an extended mission or meeting. Torian and Jazlyn don't hold back during sparring matches. You want me to keep going down the roster? I can point at every Imperial solider around the base and tell you a story about them shooting me at some point...oh and Prax had a habit of trying to strangle me and stab me for a while! Now we're best friends, funnily enough."

Arcann looked out over the base from the window, folding his hands behind his back. "I see. So you make a habit of bringing in strays."

"Beat your father, didn't it?" Kaiadri asked, standing besides him. "And don't think I don't see that self deprecating comment, buster. Almost as bad as Prax, Force preserve me."

There was that name again. Prax. He stated, "Prax is not a name I have heard, not in all of my Intelligence reports."

"That'd be because her full name is Praxidice."

"Ah. My father's favorite of his old Empire." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Emperor's Wrath, then Empire's Wrath, now being pleaded with to become the Empress's Wrath," Kaiadri replied.

"Empress Acina wants her?" There were times where he wanted to shove his fist into his mouth and scream around it. These days, it was less because someone couldn't follow orders and more because he realized he had a habit of stating rude things without realizing it.

"You may know me and my skills better, Arcann, but Praxidice is a skilled Sith combatant who could serve the whole Alliance a can of whoop-arse for dinner in her hey day." She sighed. "Hasn't been the same since waking up from carbonite."

He winced. Arcann flinched when Kaiadri put her hand on his shoulder. "S'only a quarter your fault. Someone else gets the rest of that blame. Prax works best when having something to be passionate about. Started out her career funneling her passions about the Empire into strength, cutting a bloody swath through the Republic until she met an Imperial Lieutenant. She fell in love with him, but..."

"But?" Arcann asked, raising his good eyebrow at her.

"Shit went south. The Sith Empire isn't a place for healthy mindsets and love to bloom. Praxidice focused all of her passions on him and he was a weasel taking advantage of that. Think he tried to kill her at one point and that was the last straw." Kaiadri sighed. "Prax and her weasel were almost married. Maybe it was better she was hurt, but I'd rather she wasn't since we're weird best friends. Nothing works better than a bonding experience than having to deal with Revan and Ziost and Valkorian back to back to back. She managed to kill the master that put her lover up to it and rose to become the Emperor's Wrath." She sighed. "She was hoping he had feelings for her for her still, but I don't think he loved her like she loved him. I think Malavai Quinn put her on a pedestal and that it hurt her, having his expectations to live up to. And her being in carbonite for five years...I think he's moved onto other pedestals and other Sith to worship."

"You said his name was Malavai Quinn?" He asked, putting his cybernetic hand to his chin. "I believe he was my liaison to the Sith Empire for a few years before moving up in ranks-"

"You're kidding." Kaiadri jolted. "We're supposed to be getting an ambassador squad from Empress Acina to negotiate trading routes-"

"You think he is among the crew," he finished. He frowned. "Where is Praxidice?"

"Should be with the Force Enclave, walking through an advanced combat course." She pat his shoulder. "You stall her with a little trip detailed here-" she shoved a data-pad into his hand "-and I'll do what I can to prevent a diplomatic crisis. I've got a knack with those."

"What is your method?" He asked. "I typically solved mine with a very hard glare and a gesture of violence."

"Well, around here, I like pulling shenanigans that seem entirely coincidental, but really aren't." She grinned, walking backwards. His eyes followed her playful form she had grown into this under the pressure he forced her through. At least something good grew in his actions. "Perks of being nice means that everyone is willing to lend a hand when I need it."

"I see." He turned, following her. "I shall have to attempt such methods myself."

"Thatta _boy_ , Arcann!" Kaiadri smiled, laughing. "That's what we like to see."

* * *

"Find your center."

Arcann could hear her as he walked in, her voice like stone in its weight and warmth.

"You all know it."

He was surprised she had not lost the braided style for her over the years, but there it was. Her black braided swung lightly as she moved, flowing behind her as she paced the short area before the class she was teaching. Her eyes still glowed metallic silver in the light, appearing almost white when her students unsheathed their lightsabers of every color. Her red tattoos etched into her skin looked more faded than he remembered her in the golden light of the Eternal Throne room. He remembered her then fiery, defiant. A kindred spirit. Now she seemed like him tired and uncertain of herself. Seemed being key wording in that thought, since he could be projecting his own feelings onto her. Kaiadri had pointed out that habit of his, proving him wrong at every turn. Praxidice may do the same.

"Your center for each of you is personal and tied into what side of the Force you prefer using," she replied, unsheathing her own brilliant white lightsabers. "I am not here to walk you through it. I am here to push you off of your center and to teach you how to recenter in the midst of battle. Five of you, in the front row. Attack."

One of the students nervously twittered, "Are you-"

Arcann settled in the back, watching the panic ensue as she leapt from above and attacked her students. Five of them whipped their lightsabers in self defense as Praxidice whirled between them, forcing them to deflect her blows. It did not take long for Praxidice to divide and conquer them, quickly forcing every one of the class of fifteen to surrender. He stood.

"May I have an opportunity to test my new center, Master Praxidice?" He rumbled, unsheathing his yellow lightsaber.

He hid his surprise as she snorted. "Not with that lightsaber, Arcann. You do not resonate with it. Your center will collapse. And I am no Master that word is for Jedi, which I am most certainly am not. To label myself as one would be an insult the Jedi Order and myself." She sniffed, sheathing her lightsabers to her hips. "I would not fight you in the state you are in. No wonder Kaiadri beat you."

"Oh?" He asked, stepping forward through the uncomfortable students. "How so?"

"Perhaps it is different on Zakuul," Praxidice replied, "but for accomplished Sith and Jedi, we piece together our lightsabers out of pieces that resonate with our own being. From the color crystal to the other mechanisms, we find pieces to accompany our own energies."

"I see. How interesting it is then, to see that you seem to be in the same situation as I," Arcann remarked. "I do not believe you resonate with your lightsaber either."

Praxidice's face contorted into a scowl. "Did you come here to insult me in front of students, Arcann? Don't you know I am friends with Vette for such pleasures?"

"Of course," he replied, dipping his head. "I do not wish to seek replacing others in such matters. The observation is not my own, but the Commander's."

"Kaiadri sent you to tell me, missing an opportunity to mess with me?" Praxidice asked, raising an eyebrow at him and crossing her arms.

"I believe she called this a two birds with one credit chit approach," Arcann answered. "She made the same observation as you. She thinks it would do me good to learn the process of lightsaber construction under you and for us to compare stylings."

"She's making me a babysitter."

"Miss Praxidice," he replied, finding Kaiadri's brand of humor bubbling out of him, "I did not know you found me as cute as a baby to better...label me as one." He almost winced as the line exited his mouth. Perhaps he should leave humor to the Commander-

One of the students broke the silence afterwards by snorting, then quickly hiding behind a fellow student's montrals when Praxidice glared in their direction. She turned her glare to Arcann.

" _Fine_." She opened a hand and a pack flew to it. "Come along, _infant_ Arcann. We're going on a field trip." Praxidice jumped over the students, stomping out of the room and dragging him by the scruff of his tunic.

He tried not to take too much stock in the beginnings of the whispered conversations about bets. He did not need to imagine how much money was riding on him dying during this...field trip.

* * *

"Why are we out in the wilds?" Arcann asked, looking around the wilderness of Odessan. "Would this not be easier to do from a market?"

Praxidice stopped walking and Arcann respectfully stopped at the distance he assigned himself to keep. He blinked in surprise as she invaded that distance, watching the offending hand swiftly extend two fingers to scoldingly smack him on his good cheek.

"Mysticism is _not_ found in a _marketplace_. Materials outside color crystals, yes, can be found in a marketplace and I have brought them with food," she snipped, looking back over the wilds. "Color crystals, however, are the _key_ component of the lightsaber that resonate with us Force Users. Each one is key to every Force User and a rare find."

"How do you know this?" He asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. "I thought Sith raided their lightsabers from tombs."

"Yes and why do you think the Sith Empire as a whole has such a difficult time defeating the Republic?" Praxidice replied, kneeling down and drawing out a map from a data-pad. He respectfully kneeled beside her, watching her as she spoke. "They try to steal power that is not theirs to have. They take an ancient lightsaber of an accomplished Sith while they are an apprentice and go now no one can defeat me! And then either another Jedi, another Sith, or an incredibly skilled non-Force sensitive combatant defeats them without killing them and what does our hypothetical Sith do? Look to the ancients for more of their power to steal rather than attempting to create their own." Praxidice snorted in disdain. "When the Commander informed me of how Jedi get their first lightsaber, by creating them at a sacred forge on Tython, I realized that the ways of the Sith crippled them from the start. The lightsaber is a metaphor in how a Force User approaches their lives. In my career, I have never had a color crystal for my lightsabers that resonated with my energies. Kaiadri has had two one before her fight with you and then one after you broke her dualsaber during combat."

"When she swapped to the stylings of the Zakuulan lightsaber pike," Arcann added.

She nodded. "Yes. She found that obnoxiously orange color crystal while recruiting Jorgan and from my observations, the two are a match."

"Aric Jorgan and the Commander? I thought-"

Arcann grunted when she lightly smacked him with those two fingers again. "No. Kaiadri Ardonel and her stupidly orange color crystal."

Arcann lightly glared at Praxidice as her attention turned back to her map. "So we are out here because?"

"Because there are caves with color crystals out here, according to the Commander's reports." Praxidice circled areas on her map with the data-pad's pen tool, swapping between the map and the document of the report for coordinates. "We are going to them to see if we resonate with any of the crystals out there."

"And if not?"

"I will haul your smarmy arse to Tython and Illum and everywhere else in the galaxy with deposits of color crystals and we will find this eventually. Because I have been putting this off with the conflict and if you are going to be remotely useful, you need to be at your best. Evidence shows that between your battles with Kaiadri Ardonel, I'd argue that her resonating energies with her lightsaber are what won her fights."

"My father helped."

"Not as much as he would have liked to _help_."

Arcann furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Always he was offering Kaiadri deals. He could pause time and lecture her about how we were going to stupidly mess up and everyone would die." Praxidice snorted, standing. "Trying to _bait_ us with fear. The more of his power we took, the weaker we would have become to his inevitable attempts at possession. Kaiadri and I knew this the moment we realized he was riding in our minds. Kaiadri was strong against his deal making, never once tempted. She is a simple woman with simple needs that Valkorian could never understand."

"And you?" Arcann asked, standing and looking down at her.

She was silent, shoulders raising like the hackles of a cat. "You are not someone I trust with this sort of conversation about myself," she replied, tone dropping like a stone.

"Understood," he replied, directing his eyes from her face and shoulders to the data-pad in her hands. "Where is the cave?"

He could not stop himself from noticing the shift in Praxidice's shoulders as they relaxed. "The first cave," she answered, "is a bit of a ways off that way." She pointed. "Down by a winding river."

"By your lead then," Arcann replied, motioning in the direction she pointed.

* * *

"How will we know if the stones resonate with us?" Arcann asked, looking from the glowing stones on the wall to the back of Praxidice's head.

She surveyed the crystals, tan cheeks reflecting the mottled glow nicely. "Kaiadri described it as an intense warm feeling in the chest at looking upon the crystal for the first time after some tracking. Then the Force _tests_ you."

Arcann raised his eyebrows, ignoring the soft ache in his face at the gesture. "I'm sorry, _what_?"

Praxidice snorted, shrugging and crossing her arms. "I'm still rather confused on that aspect myself. The Commander refused to clarify, only giving me giggles and snickering as answers."

"I do not find that reassuring," Arcann replied, features settling into a frown.

"Kaiadri would not purposefully place us in danger. She is much too friendly and loyal for that." She sent him a look over her shoulder, eyes stabbing into his. "Now stop looking at me and start looking at the damn crystals."

"Yes ma'am." He could excuse the red in his ears from the color crystals. That's what the heat was his proximity to the crystals. He examined the red crystal cluster, not feeling the described warmth in his chest and moving on.

Red was too close to his father's history anyways.

* * *

"Over three hundred crystal deposits and _not a single one_ resonated with you?" Praxidice asked as he started the fire for their camp in the mouth of the cave.

"I did not experience the warm feeling in the chest upon looking at any of them, and I assume you did not either," he replied, looking up at her where she was skinning some animal from her perch on a log. "We _have_ food rations. You did not have to hunt for additional food supplies."

"Food rations alone do not make a meal." She paused with the vibroknife in her hands, sleeves rolled up to her shoulders with blood drenching her arms up to her elbows. "Well. At least, not a very satisfying meal. Besides, you have royal history-"

"I also have military history of subsisting on food rations, same as the rest of my soldiers," Arcann replied. "I did _not_ eat off of a silver spoon every time I was hungry."

Instead of looking annoyed that he interrupted her as he expected, Praxidice gave an amused snort. "Kaiadri tried to overcompensate with food for you, didn't she?"

"Her and that blasted C2 unit of hers," he grumbled. "But sire, you're a _prince_! Would you not rather have the delicacies of your homeland? Sire, please stop glaring at me, Master Kaiadri has advised me when communicating with Sith and other non-Jedi Force Users to inform them that glaring stopped being a recognizable language in Republic standard issue droids centuries ago."

Praxidice continued with skinning the animal of its scaled hide, humming. "That droid gave me the same talk. Ma'am, you are an important political figure in your faction, I am only trying to appease to such tastes as I was programmed. Some advice: make the droid a menu and he'll leave you alone...until he starts perfuming your quarters, at least."

"Wonderful." He sat by the fire. "Can I safely assume that if you wanted help with that, you would have asked?"

"I knew you were clever somewhere in that thick skull of yours, infant," she replied before putting the blade of the vibroblade in her teeth and ripping the last of the hide off the beast's meat with her bare hands.

It took him a moment to realize that she was referring to his earlier comment and most likely not using infant as some kind of friendly term of endearment. Two could play that game.

He stood and immediately her eyes were locked onto him. He did his best to casually walk to the side of their camp while feeling like he was under a warship's targeting array, plucking up three sticks. He brought them back to the fire, using the Force to fashion two of them into having forked ends and placing them on the sides of the fire opposite each other. Then he completely ripped the bark off of the remaining stick with the Force, leaving it to have a sanded smooth texture. He floated it over to her and she took it, examining it.

"Is that a suitable roasting rack, _miss_?" Arcann asked, staring at her. She snorted at him with the vibroblade still in her teeth (he wondered briefly if that was sanitary, but then he remembered that Sith had a habit of doing much worse with blood than that) and nodded.

He could excuse the light heat in his face from the fire, from his proximity as he moved to tend to it.

* * *

Praxidice examined the wide gap across the coursing river, the extraordinarily far distance between their side of the river and the other side that held the cave they were on route to.

Arcann sighed. "We will have to find a route around-"

Praxidice grabbed the wrist of his organic arm, cutting him off. She placed his palm against the side of the cairn, muttering, "Feel with the Force, Arcann. Not all is as it seems."

Arcann frowned, but did as instructed. He closed his eyes, focusing through the cairn she had his palm pressed against. He opened his eyes. "That is the purpose that these cairns serve? Providing tethers between distances?"

"You thought they were solely to memorialize a fallen warrior of the past, infant?" Praxidice asked, letting to and standing. "Perhaps that was their original purpose. But now, they give us a chance not to become like those fallen warriors."

With that, she jumped. His eyes widened and he reached out with his arm, and with the Force to make sure she didn't fall. He relaxed, seeing her land safely on the other side. He looked at the cairn and decided he'd trust her. Just this once.

He jumped, using the Force to pull him through the air. Praxidice stepped aside as he landed where she'd been standing, radiating a smug air.

Arcann stood, looking at her. "It seems you were right, miss."

"Kaiadri has not taught you the most important lesson of our shared history?" She flipped her braid over her shoulder, beginning to walk. "I am _always_ right."

He watched her walk momentarily before shaking himself out of the stupor the sight pushed him into. He quickly followed, jogging to keep up with her quick steps.

* * *

"Are you aware, Arcann, that you have a surprising air of being a very good listener?"

"A compliment? From _you_ , miss?" He looked up from the lightsaber parts, the two of them taking their second night crystal-less to select the other parts from the pack on Praxidice's back. He needed to steal that from her at some point, it wasn't fair for her to carry it solely when it had parts for both of them.

Praxidice snorted. "Do not get used to it, infant. I'm simply observing a fact you carry yourself respectfully when others are talking. It's a respectable trait."

The tips of his ears reddened, but he kept himself in check. Do not misinterpret her words, Arcann.

"I see. Thank you, Praxidice." He hummed in consideration, looking over the parts. Hilts, grips, emitters, pommels, couplers Praxidice had brought quite a collection out with them. "How are we-"

She interrupted his train of thought (something she was incredibly proficient at doing) by taking out her lightsabers and disassembling them. She added the parts from them to the assorted piles between them, keeping the twin white color crystals in her palm. Praxidice looked up at him. "Disassemble your lightsaber."

"I made this with my brother-"

"If the parts resonate with you, you _will_ pick them again," she replied. "Put them into the piles."

He grunted, removing his lightsaber from his belt. He was not as practiced as her (how many times had she done this? Torn apart and reassembled her lightsabers? Had she been as racked with uncertainty as he was? She didn't _deserve_ that), but he managed to use his abilities in the Force to disassemble his lightsaber as she did. He kept the yellow color crystal in his hand, closing his fist around it like she did hers.

He watched as she lifted her free hand, the piles of parts lifting and shifting in the air and mixing until he lost track of where his parts were. He kept his eyes on hers as the piles landed on the ground with a gentle plop on their blankets.

"Now, we search with our hearts and eyes in the Force," Praxidice replied, setting her color crystals in her lap and gently digging through the piles. She reminded him of the seasoned chefs in the palace kitchens, carefully selecting through ingredients with seasoned experience.

He followed her example, starting with the pile of emitters that she wasn't looking in. Arcann let himself look through the pile arbitrarily, figuring that the key of the experience was to trust the Force.

He found an emitter that made him smile it reminded Arcann with its construction of the emitter he and his brother tried to make as children on their first try. It was obviously better made, but the shape of it served as a solid reminder of the pleasant memory with Thexan.

Arcann moved to the next pile of grip material, something to wrap around his pommel to help him keep a hold of the new lightsaber. Zakuul lightsaber construction philosophy normally disdained such measures, but if he was starting fresh, he would try something new. He selected the roll of solid black material, matte in its finish and the most non-slippery fabric he could find in the pile. It reminded him of too many things to count, but the first that came to mind was the woman sitting across from him. He pushed that out real fast, instead settling on that it reminded him of Thexan's tunic.

Hilts were the foundation, if he allowed himself to think symbolically. If he accepted Praxidice's metaphor that a lightsaber was the physical symbol to how a Force User would approach life, then he wanted to have a sturdy grip. He brushed over the hilts until his fingers brushed against something that was not a hilt. He looked up and followed that something to Praxidice, finding it to be her fingers he had brushed against. Her cheeks dusted red and she cleared her throat, moving on as if nothing happened. He'd strive to do the same. They both brushed over the same hilt, both drawn to it. He relinquished it to her, ignoring her surprised stare as he looked amongst the other hilts. He grunted when she threw the hilt at him.

"There's copies, you know," she grumbled, rolling her eyes and holding up a replica of the hilt they'd both been eying. "I work with dual wielding techniques. Having them match is something that I prepare for."

"You will not match if I-"

She answered him by slowly floating up another empty hilt from the pile, lightly smacking the top of his head with it. He grumbled, "I get your point."

"There is no reason to be so noble and self sacrificing when there is enough for both of us," Praxidice scolded. "I do not _have_ to have my hilts matching." She hummed. "That may be an interesting experiment, to have mismatching hilts..." She selected another hilt, attention mercifully drawn off of him and the red tipped ears he was hoping she hadn't noticed.

She thought him noble. It would be hard to set that aside to ignore or deny.

Arcann placed his selected pieces in front of him, reviewing them. They seemed almost...mismatched. He frowned, moving to put back one of the pieces-

-but he found Praxidice's hand on his, gently stopping him.

"That is a good spread you have," she replied, "there is no reason to try to change it. None of the pieces are incompatible and are not liable to backfire on you. You chose the EX9 Guardian Emitter, a Vornskyr hide grip, a Jedi Temple Guardian's handle, and several other pieces that make a bold statement." She gently pushed his hand back down against the pieces. "That you wish to protect others and will do so viciously." She smiled. "It is a _good_ statement for you."

He stared at her, his head slowly tilting to the left. He grinned. " _Another_ compliment, miss? I thought you said not to get used to them."

Arcann laughed, blaming the heat in his face from the physical exertion of running from Praxidice as she tried to...do something to him. He wasn't sure what and he wasn't sure he cared.

He just liked her chasing him.

* * *

They stepped into the cave, together. They looked at each other, both feeling the same tug.

"I think we're close," they said in sync, looking around the cave. Arcann and Praxidice looked at each other, surprised.

"You feel this too?" He asked.

"I believe so, yes," she replied, "this _has_ to be the strange sensation that Kaiadri spoke about."

"Shall we split up then?" Arcann asked, "To cover more ground?"

She hesitated, looking up at him. Praxidice nodded. "Agreed. We don't know that our targets are from the same location in the cave anyway."

"If you need help-"

"Nonono." Praxidice took her two fingers, lightly hitting his lips to stop him. "I believe it will be _you_ who needs help, infant."

Arcann snorted. "If you say so, miss."

He watched her run off into the depths of the caves, taking her own path and trusting her to do so. If she actually needed help, she'd ask. He went down his own pathway through the cave, following the strange ringing feeling in his chest. If it got stronger, he figured he was on the right path. It was like playing pretend with their imaginary sonar systems when he and Thexan were younger.

He looked up, seeing cairns placed inside the cave. He touched one, seeing where its tether lead. He followed it, jumping great lengths and landing in the belly of the cave with a soft phwatt. He walked towards a black stone, slowly kneeling to it and examining it.

"Black color crystals are rare," Praxidice's voice rang out behind him and he looked over his shoulder. She walked up to the same stone, touching it as she sat beside it.

"We got called by the same stone?" He asked.

"So it would seem," she replied. "Perhaps Kaiadri was not far off in assigning you to be my distraction while my ex-fiance is on planet."

"You knew? The whole time?"

She sighed. "I knew he was on planet the minute he landed."

"What were you going to do had I and Kaiadri not intervened?" He asked. "Knowing you as I have now the last couple of days-"

"Arcann," she replied, "you know how I have been the last couple of days. From your observation of me, what do you think I would have done?"

"Given him a verbal beating the likes of which had never been seen," he answered and Praxidice raised her eyebrows. "You would have torn him asunder using every bit of language available to you, insulting him from what you know of his personality to his morality and loyalty and quite possibly his fashion sense. From what I've seen, the wound with him with Quinn is too deep for you simply to kill him. You would have wanted to hurt him just as he hurt you, through emotional indifference and words." He tilted his head, giving a half nod. "It's what I would have done in your position and in my observations, you seem similar."

"I..." Praxidice frowned. "You were not supposed to be right with your guess."

"I was a cruel Emperor, but I was smart enough to run the Zakuulan Empire. To do that, I had to have some understanding of how to read people." He sat, looking from the stone to her. "Now that I have clarity, it is much easier to do so."

"You were so much easier to deal with when you were the enemy," Praxidice grumbled, "and when I did not like who you are as I person."

"You shouldn't-"

"If you tell me that I should _not_ like you, I will smack you," she snapped, "anything self deprecating will earn you a fondly fueled light smack." She tapped the black stone they were sitting by. "We were both called by the same stone with the same color crystal typing. Do you know what this means?"

"That there is such a thing as coincidences? That the Force pitied us for hiking and camping for a week straight on this hunt and decided to end it at the same time." He shrugged. "Thexan was the brother who was highly knowledgeable in the more delicate Force matters. I was the one who focused into combat training."

"We have very similar energies, in the Force," Praxidice replied. "We are two of a kind, so to speak. So let me make a proposal that I'm sure our Commander would approve of."

"Yes?" He asked.

"Every time you talk of yourself in a poor manner, imagine that you were speaking of me." She took his hands in hers, placing their palms together and gently wrapping her fingers around his wrist and lower arm. "My hands are not as clean as you may think."

"You spared almost every individual who wronged you," he muttered, returning the gesture by gently wrapping his fingers around her wrists. "I've read your file. Do not lie to me."

"My file does not mention every person I cut down to reach to get to those individuals. Every innocent person, simply doing their jobs," she replied. "I kept track. During apprenticeship, it was approximately two hundred and thirty people. When I was a Darth, it was about five hundred. When I became Emperor's Wrath, a thousand. When I became an Outlander, I slaughtered simply to break a Republic officer into giving me the information I wanted." She sighed. "I've killed many people. People history will forget. Our numbers may not align exactly, but...believe me when I say I know what it is like to regret deaths so numerous that a simple number count does not do the amount justice. If you wish to atone, you need to let yourself grow into the good person you've always had to potential to become."

They were silent, verbally. Praxidice gently traced circles into his wrists with her thumbs, humming softly. The tune mimicked the old war tunes of the Sith Empire, the easy-to-follow beating of the war drums. He remembered first listening to the recordings of such music as he trained for the invasion, eager to please and impress his father. Now he was hearing them again and he had someone new to impress.

"Alright," he sighed, unable to keep the beginnings of a smile off of his face. "I will do my best not to make self deprecating comments...and to focus fully on atoning for what I've done."

"Good." She let go of his hands, immediately focused back on the stone. "Shall we?"

"How shall we go about this?" Arcann asked, letting go of her hands and watching her move them to the stone.

She hummed, tracing along the stone's black surface. She tapped along it, closing her eyes. "The procedure is simple enough. There are tools in the pack hand them to me, please?"

He leaned over, opening the pack on her back as she continued to examine the rock. Arcann pulled out the labeled box, holding it for her to take as he returned back to his position out of her space.

Praxidice took it, getting to work. Arcann watched her hands deftly work, fingers moving like spiders spiraling across the stone and marking two circles with a piece of chalk before giving the chalk to him.

"Mark how wide and how you want your crystals cut."

"What does it change?"

"The wider the crystal, the longer the blade is emitted. I would not recommend going wider than two thirds of your hilt, however, since there are other parts to consider when putting together your lightsaber. The cut changes affect little and are more stylistic." She traced around her circles. "I like circles because they represent full cycles every end is a beginning and every beginning an end. I know the Jedi like to cut their crystals into faceted shapes to remind them that they are contained beings."

He hummed and slowly traced a somewhat thick square against the stone. "Then I shall be more contained. To remember myself for who I should be."

"If you wish," she replied, slowly retrieving some kind of cutting implement. He watched her go about working, cutting out his crystal first. She blew air on it to cool, lifting it out of the stone with the Force rather than her hands. The black crystal was revealed to have blue tints in it in the light, a midnight sky in crystalline form. She set it before him. "Place it into your lightsaber."

Arcann disassembled his lightsaber, removing the yellow color crystal he and Thexan picked out when they were children. He held it in his hand. It looked so small now. He placed it aside, placing the new midnight crystal into his lightsaber as Praxidice continued to cut out her crystals. He blinked as she handed him one of her lightsabers.

"What do you want me to do with this?" He asked.

"Pull it apart for me while I cut this out," she replied. "Then I can slot the crystal in faster."

"Is this not technically cheating?" Arcann asked, letting himself gently tease her.

She snorted, looking at him. "Perhaps, but I'd like the gesture to show that I trust you, infant."

"Of course, miss. Perhaps we may negotiate a better nickname for myself than infant?" He asked, putting his newly assembled lightsaber on his belt and pulling hers apart.

She chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him. "Perhaps baby."

"Will people not assume that that name has romantic contexts?" Arcann asked. "I do not wish for that rumor to hinder or harm you in any way."

Praxidice looked at him, her lips quirking up in a smirk. "I am quite alright with that, _baby_."

His face flushed red and Arcann cleared his throat. "P-perhaps you should stop looking at me and start looking at those _damn_ crystals."

She snorted, looking back at her work. He focused entirely upon the careful disassembly of her lightsaber, laying out the pieces for her.

Arcann stood, taking a step or two to distance himself from her before taking his newly whole lightsaber and flicking it to life with a single flick of his wrist. The blade did not glow so much as exist, black energy looking like a hole. Blue energy flowed around the black core, extending along the length of the blade. This lightsaber blade was longer than his previous, but that felt right. He fell into practice drills against an invisible enemy, sweeping into adjusting to the blade as Praxidice assembled her lightsabers.

The cave rumbled as Praxidice fit the pommels onto her lightsabers. The newly constructed hilts flew into her hands and she quickly stood. The two warriors backed up until they were back to back, the two having their blades extended and eyes peeled.

A pebble hit Arcann square in the nose and he looked up, seeing bright yellow eyes staring at him.

"Above us!"

The two scattered away from each other as the eyes descended, a long twisting shape curling onto the floor. The reptilian monster bared its teeth and roared, shaking the cave more. Its two horns scrapped the ceiling, causing a few rocks to fall.

Arcann went for the creature's legs, the thick muscular appendages keeping the elongated creature standing. He could see a blur of red above him and he almost grinned.

Praxidice would hit the creature high, he would hit it low.

He moved in long sweeping motions, focusing on whittling down the legs slowly with deliberate slices of his blade. He remembered Praxidice skinning her kill for dinner all those nights ago near the beginning of their journey together, holding his lightsaber in the same reverse grip she had when focusing on large cuts. Arcann dodged the feet moving to stomp him, the tail moving to swat him, and the rocks carved from above moving to smash him. He lost himself to the rhythm of the battle.

One leg was carved off and then the other. The beast gave a shriek as it fell onto its side. He looked up desperately for Praxidice, relaxing as he saw her slowing her fall by hooking her lightsaber's into the flesh of the creature's shoulder and sliding down. Arcann tensed again upon realizing it would not be enough to stop herself before she ran out of shoulder on the massive beast.

He sheathed his lightsaber, pushing himself to sprint. He made a running jump, catching Praxidice mid air before skidding to a landing with an undignified yelp and grunt. Arcann looked down at her.

"Are you injured?" He asked.

She grinned up at him, eyes glowing a faint red. "Just enough to make me _interesting_."

"Not reassuring, miss," Arcann rumbled, placing her down and unsheathing his lightsaber as the creature roared.

Praxidice laughed. "I'm sorry, is it my role to reassure you, baby?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but tackled her to the ground as the creature roared again, slamming its massive tail against the cave wall. Several rocks fell about them.

If it could not survive to hunt the next day, neither would they.

* * *

Kaiadri sat on top of a desk, reading reports. Theron was seated nearby her, using her thigh as a headrest as he read through his own pile of reports.

"So, how's the situation with Arcann going?" Theron asked. "Since Mr. Tall, Dark, and Gruesome is your responsibility."

Kaiadri answered, "Sent him out with Prax to bond and do some nice vacationing. They both needed it, so I figured, hey, two birds, one credit chit."

Theron sat up straight with a jolt. "And how long ago was this? His loyalists have been reporting him missing for the past week and a half, Kai! We can't afford to have them go rouge while they're in our base."

"Yeah, I sent them out a week and a half ago to go get color crystals for themselves," Kaiadri replied, putting down her report to look at them. "Security footage showed them leaving on foot. It's gonna take them a bit."

"They're still on planet then?"

"Yes, Theron. I wouldn't send our resident grumps off planet without...well, me to accompany them." Kaiadri reached out, carding her fingers through his hair. "Relax, Theron. They'll be fine."

The intercom crackled. "Commander! Announcement: You have company to see you."

"Send 'em in, HK." Kaiadri slid off the desk, putting her datapad down.

The door slid open and there was a terribly filthy pair, stomping into her office. Praxidice stomped right up to Kaiadri, slugging her across the face.

Kaiadri groaned, holding her face. Theron got up, having behind her protectively. "I probably deserved that," she grunted, looking up at Praxidice. "Your hair looks nice out of a braid."

"Flattery will get you flattened into paste," Praxidice grumbled. "That was the test? After getting the color crystals?"

"Look, it's a thing with Jedi lightsaber construction, there always is a huge monster that shows up the minute you're done," Kaiadri protested. "Happened to me, happened to Jazlyn, and about every other Jedi on planet and off."

"A warning would have been...appreciated," Arcann rumbled. He took a step or two closer, putting his cybernetic hand on Praxidice's shoulder. "Admit it, Praxidice: if we had been warned, you would not have had nearly as much fun fighting that thing if we had been warned."

Praxidice was silent. Kaiadri did a brief once over of Prax's body language. Stiff with tension, probably rage, but was quickly deflating into exhaustion the moment Arcann touched her shoulder. Interesting.

Praxidice chuckled, leaning back into Arcann's touch. "You're right, baby," she replied, shattering Kaiadri's world view in three words. "I would not have enjoyed that nearly as much as I did had I been forewarned. Still. I do not like situations that could have been alleviated had we been better informed. It nearly ripped off your head."

"And the universe would be down one ugly face, miss," he replied. Arcann stilled when Praxidice invaded his personal space and Kaiadri's eyes widened as Prax kissed the scarred side of his face.

"A tragedy," Praxidice cooed, smiling at him. She looked back at Kaiadri, smile melting off into a scowl. "Do not do something like this again, Ardonel. You won't always have my good mood save you."

"Stars, what happened out there?" Kaiadri asked.

Praxidice turned, taking Arcann by the hand. "Perhaps one day I will tell you, Kaiadri. Not today."

Kaiadri watched, jaw dropping as the two walked out of her office hand in hand. Theron waved a hand in front of her face for a solid ten seconds before she exploded.

"First Lana, Koth, and Jazlyn! Now Praxidice and Arcann?!" Kaiadri threw her arms into the air, accidentally hitting Theron in the face. They both winced in sync.

"It's a surprising _hit_ with the troops," Theron grumbled as Kaiadri checked over his face to check if she hurt him.

"This is no time for puns. My friends are growing up and as the mom friend, it's a real shock! They were holding hands and have _matching_  pommels on their lightsabers! They must have defanged whatever attacked them, those were huge teeth welded onto the ends of their lightsabers. They're so...matching! What's next to shock me, matching sweaters for Life Day?"

"Not as shocking as getting hit in the face by your girlfriend. _Ow_."

"Oh now you're just faking to get kisses."

"Is it working?"

"...maybe."

* * *

Praxidice and Arcann sat in the med bay after being fussed over by medical officials.

"The kiss may have been overboard," Arcann replied once he was certain the coast was clear.

"She's oblivious," Praxidice replied, "I had to really make it clear."

"I do not think that Commander Kaiadri is as oblivious as you think," Arcann rumbled. "What will happen when she finds out that we're not actually-"

"Perhaps, but I wanted to sell it as convincingly as possible," Praxidice replied, words tumbling out of her mouth faster than usual. "You were right -- shocking her was much better than punching her unconscious."

"I am doing my best at giving and especially  _having_ better ideas," Arcann replied.

Praxidice chuckled. "That you are." She tilted her head. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

"And I you, miss." He bowed his head in her direction.

Arcann did his best to suppress his blush as she smiled at him.

While he did not believe he deserved it, Arcann was determined not to ruin their budding friendship.

 


End file.
